Crafty Friends

Oooh! I lovelovelove this. This stitched cardigan has something to do with those clever gals over at Red Velvet Art and their plans for something called Style School that sounds like something ♫pret-ty ♪ greEaAAT♪!

Since my digital camera has about five billion photos on it that I still need to download, I'm just going to resort to using my laptop's built-in to show you a couple of gifts I got this season...and from the designer herself, no less. While I was at Bazaar Bizarre in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, I got to meet Rita Chu of Mochi Studios who gave me these handmade gifts! The gnome has a wonderfully embroidered hat and the mushroom (well, it deserves a better photo). Look closer... 

The mushroom (I think it would make a perfect pincushion) is actually a champagne cork with a crocheted underside, hand-stitched face and the tiniest, most wee little pom-pom fringe all around. Gush! You can adopt a Mochi shroom of your very own on her website: www.MochiStudios.com Thanks, Rita!

Will wonders never cease? While I was in Minneapolis last month at Crafty Planet, I was excited not only to get to see my friends Trish and Rebecca, but also to see their spiffy new book, One Yard Wonders! It's soooo pretty, and inspiring an' easy an' the perfect solution for that shameful pile of pretty fabrics I have that are too small to make a skirt from but too big to discard. Yes, I have a pile of gorgeous, languishing fabric like that (and I don't even know how to sew) and I know you doOoO tooOoOOo!

I've been stockpiling yummy looking Thanksgiving recipes and crafty turkey-day cuteness, and I thought I'd share my finds. The countdown to pumpkin pie (with cinnamon whipped cream) has begun!

Crafty Stuff:

Turkey redwork from The Little Red Hen

Badbird's Turkey embroidery pattern

Homemade pumpkin pie play-dough

KnitaLatte's Crochet Acorn Tutorial  

Turkey Boy Amigurumi Pattern

Abraham Lincoln Embroideries from Lasassone and IamSusie and Stitchin.Thyme

Wild Olive's Recipe Cards, Autumn Coasters, and Tired Turkey Embroidery

My Paper Crane's Turkey Hand Cookies (Brilliant!)

Upcycled Napkin Ring How-2

Grocery Shopping List Print-out

Yummy Stuff:

Buying a Turkey: Tips 

Mashed Potatoes with Brown Butter, Goat Cheese, and Sage

Cranberry-Apricot Chutney

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Carrot Flowers (Cute!)

Pull-Apart Rolls

Carmel Pumpkin Cheesecake 

Individual Pie Pops

Jennifer Perkin's Pumpkin Ice Cream

Jenny's take on giblet gravy. 

Vegan Thanksgiving recipies. (via Counter Culture) 

Other Fun Stuff:

Vintage Cookbook Illustrations

Vintage "Kitchens of the Future"

Scratch and Sniff Holiday Cards (love these)

In case you were wondering if there was a supercute (that's one word, isn't it?) diy-type store in Paris, I can tell you: OUI. It's true, there are not as many indie shops that stock crafty and handmade goods as there are in the good ol' USofA, but they're starting to get the big idea over here. By far, my favorite is Pop Market run by warm and friendly (who said Parisians were icy?) Céline and Marion. They just might offer you un café to sip on, served from a bubble-gum pink plastic tray, while you peruse their excellent selection of handmade goods, housewares and craft kits. Chee...do these craft kits look familar to you?

I nearly fainted from excitement seeing my very own patterns and kits displayed in their store! Knowing they came directly from our tiny office to this very cool store in Paris made this small-town midwestern gal swell up with pride and disbelief. I am discussing doing a workshop at their boutique next time I'm in Paris (which I hope will be as soon as possible)! I do need to brush up on my French for "don't poke yourself with the needle". And Marion did a wonderful thing and translated all my instructions into French so there is no need for people to scratch their heads. We are all doing our best for international indie-diy-handmade relations!

If you are lucky enough to be in Paris, do yourself a grand favor and check out their shop:

Pop Market
50, rue Bichat
Paris 75010
Metro: Jacques Bonsergent or Château Landon

Our wonderful friend down-under, Pip, of Meet Me At Mike's tweeted me to say she'd stitched up one of Maurice Sendak's illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are. She even posted a step-by-step how to. Good on ya, Pip!

ETA: Jinx! Feeling Stitchy friends posted this too!

Link

Kunderwood (aka Kristi) has lots of wonderful sets of embroidery projects on flickr and recently posted her stitched-up sugar skull from Embroidered Effects. I lovelovelove the colors she chose (check out those alternating lazy daisies, willya), the neatness of her work and the I-can-almost-touch-the-stitches photos! 

Kristi's blog: Stitchy Stitcherson

I am in love with Pamela's (aka FasterKittyKill) incredibly sweet, hand-tinted and embroidered pillows that she sells on Etsy! Pam has been longtime friend of Sublime Stitching. She is the awesome mod of the Sublime Stitching Craftster Forum and recently put up an interview with me on her blog! But, you want to get over to her etsy shop and ogle her 30's-style pillows. They are delightful.

Might I also suggest my Camp Out embroidery patterns?

Ahhhh, late August. Composition notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, the smell of paste in the air... School is back in session. And we have a very special how-to that's sure to get you to the head of the class!

May I introduce our Teacher, Ms. Karin (Orange Flower). Karin does beautiful work - sweet, simple, and fun. The zipper pouch she made here looks like it came straight out of a modern Japanese Craft book. Just darling. This pouch is perfect for pencils, but with other embroidery transfers, it would also make a great make up case (or tampon case). Take a look at the tutorial here. And we want to see your projects when you finish- don't forget to submit to our Customer Gallery. 

How-To: Zippered Pouch with Reverse Applique